Multimedia Material on the Solar System By Dr. Chien-Hung Lin ( 林建宏博士 )

Multimedia Material on the Solar System

By

Dr. Chien-Hung Lin

( 林建宏博士 )

The Solar System

Science Vocabulary Structure of the Solar SystemThe Sun, Moon, & Inner Planets The Outer PlanetsRelative Size & Relative Distance The Planet MovementInteraction-- Earth & the Sun Interaction-- Earth & the Moon

When I look at the sky, I always wonder what I am seeing? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? What is up there?

Good question! Most of the objects you see are stars. A few of the objects you will see are planets.

The planets? Yes. Some are a little like Earth, and some are amazingly different.

Really? What are these planets exactly?

Do you know anything about the Sun, Moon and stars?

Well, I don’t know.

Let me take you a tour to the sky. I will help you learn through many interesting pictures, songs, and websites.

That sounds great.Are you ready? Let’s explore the space!

Science Vocabulary

I am so excited. Please teach me new words.

Before exploring the sky, I would like to give you a quick preview on some vocabulary words. At this time, you just get a feel about what they are.

Science Vocabulary

I am so excited. Please teach me new words .

First of all, you have to know the Solar System. The Solar System is the Sun and the objects that orbit around it.

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/

The Sun is the center of the Solar System. It is a star.


A planet is a large body of rock or gas that orbits the sun.The Solar System has nine planets, including Earth.


1. Mercury 2. Venus3. Earth 4. Mars

They are the four planets closest to the Sun. They are called the inner planets.


1. Jupiter 2. Saturn3. Uranus 4. Neptune5. Pluto

Their surfaces are colder than the inner planets because they are farther away from the Sun. They are called the outer planets.


http://www.iknowthat.com/ScienceIllustrations/solarsystem/science_desk.html

Why don’t you try this website? Click on each picture then you will hear the name of the planet. Don’t forget to make sure your flash player in the computer and your speakers are working.

Could you please teach me how to pronounce these planets?

Click the laptop!



Wow!! That’s so much to know. I would like to know more about the Solar System.

No problem. Let me take you a tour to the Solar System.

Structure of the Solar System

Structure of the Solar SystemThe Solar System is the Sun and the objects that orbit around it. An orbit is the path an object takes as it moves around another object in space. All the planets, including Earth, are in orbit around the Sun.

Structure of the Solar System

Yes. The Solar System also has many moons. Moons are large, rocky objects that orbit planets. Earth has one moon. Other planets have no moons or many moons.

Now, I understand there are nine planets. I am wondering if the Moon is also in the Solar System.

The Sun & Moon & Inner Planets

The Sun, Moon, & Inner Planets

The Sun The Moon Earth

Mercury Venus Mars

Let me take you a closer look at the Sun, Moon and inner planets.

http://hometown.aol.com/bobalien99/

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/games/levelfive/KC_Solar_System.html

Before learning the nine planets, why don’t you try yourself to see how much you know about them?

Ok. I will try my best.

Click the laptop!


The Sun looks so small in the sky. Is it very far from us?

The Sun is 93 million miles from Earth! If somehow you could fly an airplane to the Sun, it would take you 26 years.

The Sun gives us heat and light necessary for us to live. Without the Sun, Earth would be a frozen ball of ice. What do we

get from the Sun?

No problem! Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are called the inner planets. In their early years, they were constantly stuck by other objects in space. As a result, craters cover their surfaces.

Can you tell me more about the inner planets?

The Inner Planets1.The inner planets are closest planets to the Sun. 2.They are warmer and smaller than the other planets.3.All of them are made of solid, rocklike materials. 4.The inner planets have few, if any satellites.


The Sun

What about the Sun? I remember you said it is the center of the Solar System earlier.

Right, smart girl. The Sun is a star—a hot ball of glowing gases. It looks different to us from other stars because it is closer to us than other stars are.

1. The Sun is the only star in the Solar System.

2. It is very hot and bright. 3. It is also big.

I know American Neil Armstrong has become the first man to walk on the Moon.

You are right! If you want to know more about it, you can go http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/home/F_First_Person_on_Moon.html to check it out. Besides, the Moon is a cold, dry orb whose surface is studded with craters and strewn with rocks and dust.

The Moon


1. The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite.

2. It is the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun.

3. It is the fifth largest moon in the Solar System.

4. It has no atmosphere.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/home/F_First_Person_on_Moon.html



Very good. What you say about Earth is very impressive. Now, let me tell you something about Mercury.

Mercury1.Mercury is the closest to the Sun.2.It has a very hot side and a cold side.3.There is no water and very little air.


Well, I am very surprised to know that Mercury is the closest to the Sun but it doesn’t have any air around it. It must be very cold at night because there is no atmosphere to trap the daytime heat.

Wow. You have a beautiful voice. Although Mercury is the closest to the Sun, Venus is hotter. The atmosphere around it traps the heat.

Oh, I can sing the song, Venus. “I am your Venus. I am your fire at your desire.” So what’s special about Venus?

Venus1.Venus is almost the same size as Earth, but the two planets are very different. 2.Like Mercury, Venus has no water.3.Its atmosphere is made up mostly of carbon dioxide. This gas covers Venus like a thick blanket. It traps heat, making Venus the hottest planet in the Solar System.


Well, I just read about Earth in Science book last night. Let me tell you something about Earth.

Let me ask you a question. What do you know about Earth?

Earth1.Earth is the only planet that we know supports life. 2.Earth’s atmosphere keeps it from getting too hot or too cold.3.Earth has water and oxygen. These things make Earth the special, life-supporting member of the Solar System.


Mars is known as “the red planet” because of its reddish surface.

Mars1.Mars is smaller than Earth but has two moons.2.Its thin atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide.3.Craters and inactive volcanoes cover most of the surface. One of Mars’s volcanoes is the highest known mountain in the Solar System. It is more than 25 kilometers high!


The Outer Planets

Do you remember what they are called? I mentioned them earlier.

Yes. I remember! They are called the outer planets.

The Outer Planets


The five outer planets are far from the Sun. Because of this, they are dark and cold. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are giants made up mostly of gas.

The Outer Planets1.Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are giants made up mostly of gas. Each has moons and a ring system. 2.Saturn’s rings are quite famous. Pluto, the last of the outer planets, is a bit different from the others. It is solid, rocky and small..


Jupiter

1.Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System.2. It has 17 moons plus 11 new moons that have just been discovered and a thin ring of dust. 3.Thick, icy clouds of ammonia and water make up much of Jupiter.

That is one of its features-Great Red Spot. Scientists think that a large storm causes this spot.

What are these spots in the photo of Jupiter?


Saturn1.Beyond Jupiter is Saturn, the second largest planet and another gas giant. 2.Saturn has 16 moons that we know of.

Wow, look at beautiful shiny rings!

Yes. The rings are made of chunks of ice and rock.


Uranus1.This gas giant has faint gray rings and 17 moons. Scientists think the rings might be made of graphite, the material used in pencils. 2.Uranus rotates on such a tilted axis that it looks as if it’s lying on its side.

Why Uranus is blue? That is a bluish fog covering Uranus, the seventh planet.


NeptuneNeptune is the last of the gas giants. It has a Great Dark Spot, similar to the spot on Jupiter.

Neptune has rings and eight moons.


Another planet in blue?

Pluto1.Pluto is the ninth and farthest planet from the Sun. 2.It is dark and cold. From distant Pluto the Sun is just a small point of light. 3.Pluto is made up of a mixture of rocky materials and frozen gases. It has a thin atmosphere and one large moon.

Pluto is the farthest planet from the Sun.

Farthest planet from the Sun? It must be very, very cold.


PlanetDistance from the

SunPeriod of Revolution

Around the SunPeriod of Rotation

Mass(kg)

Diameter Number of Moons

Mercury0.39 AU, 36 million

miles57.9 million km

87.96 Earth days 58.7 Earth days 3.3 x 10233,031 miles4,878 km

0

Venus0.723 AU

67.2 million miles108.2 million km

224.68 Earth days 243 Earth days 4.87 x 10247,521 miles12,104 km

0

Earth1 AU

93 million miles149.6 million km

365.26 days 24 hours 5.98 x 10247,926 miles12,756 km

1

Mars1.524 AU


686.98 Earth days24.6 Earth hours

=1.026 Earth days6.42 x 1023

4,222 miles6,787 km

2

PlanetDistance from the

SunPeriod of Revolution

Around the SunPeriod of Rotation

Mass(kg)

Diameter Number of Moons

Jupiter5.203 AU


11.862 Earth years 9.84 Earth hours 1.90 x 102788,729 miles142,796 km

18 named (plus many smaller ones)

Saturn9.539 AU

886.7 million miles1,427.0 million km


18+

Uranus19.18 AU

1,784.0 million miles2,871.0 million km


15

Neptune30.06 AU

2,794.4 million miles4,497.1 million km


2

Pluto39.53 AU

3,674.5 million miles5,913 million km

247.7 years 6.39 Earth days 1.29 x 10221,413 miles2,274 km

1 large (plus 2 tiny)

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/

Fact Sheet of the Planets in Our Solar System

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/

Where, Oh Where Does That Little Planet Go?

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/activity/planet_go.html

Why don’t you try to put the number of the orbit pattern that belongs to each object in the box under the objects’ name?

Click the laptop!

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/activity/planet_go.html


Why don’t you try again to see if you get more understanding about it? Maybe you will also learn something new from this activity.

No problem!

Click the laptop!


Relative Size & Relative Distance

Are they different sizes? I never notice they are different in size.

That is relative size. Relative size means how big something is compared to something else. For example, compared to a whale you are very small; but, compared to an ant, you are enormous! This is the same for planets.

Relative Size

http://www.the-solar-system.net/

Compared to Jupiter, our Earth is rather small; but, compared to the planet Pluto, our Earth is very large. Our own world seems pretty big to us but we are by no means the largest planet in the Solar System.

Jupiter has 317 times more mass than Earth and Saturn is 95 times as massive as Earth. But even with those planetary giants, the Sun contains 99.86% of the mass of the entire Solar System.

http://www.astrocentral.co.uk/planetsize.html

http://www.fugly.com/videos/6790/the_size_of_planets_and_stars.html

Movie Clips for the Size of Planets

This picture gives the relative sizes of the Sun and the planets that orbit around it.

Is this a movie clip for relative size? Wow, let’s watch it together.

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/messenger/psc/PlanetSize.html

Why don’t you try to compare the sizes of the planets on your own?

No problem! It’s my show time.

Click the planets to start!

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/messenger/psc/PlanetSize.html

Relative Distance

Why don’t you try to read relative distance by yourself?

Ok. I’ll try.


Relative Distance— Astronomical UnitRelative distance deals with comparing distances of different objects from the Sun. We could use astronomical unit to visualize the relative distance of the planets from the Sun and one another. (Astronomical Unit is equal to 93 million miles.)

So now I understand if I want to compare the distance of any planet from the Sun, I can compare its distance from the Sun to the Earth’s distance from the Sun.

Speaking of the Earth’s distance from the Sun, I remember I just learned it would take me 26 years if I could flay an airplane to the Sun.

The distance from Earth to the Sun is one astronomical unit, or 1 AU. From the Sun:

Mercury would be 0.39 AU away.

Venus would be 0.72 AU away.

Mars would be 1.52 AU away.

Jupiter would be 5.2 AU away.

Saturn would be 9.5 AU away.

Uranus would be 20 AU away.

Neptune would be 30 AU away.

Pluto would be 39.4 AU away.

The Planet Movement

The Planet MovementAll the planets in the Solar System move in two ways: rotation and revolution. Rotation is the spinning of an object on its axis. Revolution is the movement of one object around another object.Each planet rotates on an axis and revolves around the Sun. However, the planets have many differences. They rotate at different speeds. A day on Earth is 24 hours long, but a day on Venus is 243 Earth days long. The planets revolve around the Sun at different speeds, too. One year on Pluto lasts about 250 Earth years.

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/fun/make-a-solar-system.htm

I am going to create my own kingdom!

Click the orbit to create your own Solar System

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/fun/make-a-solar-system.htm

Interaction—Earth and the Sun

Interaction—Earth and the SunDay and Night

Day and night happen as Earth rotates. Earth spins on its axis, an imaginary line that goes through the North Pole and the South Pole, once every 24 hours.

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/

Why there is day and night?

With the rotation, half of Earth is in sunlight, the other half is in darkness at any one time. The half in sunlight has day, and the half in darkness has night.

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/seasons_orbit.5x7_jpg_image.html&edu=elem

We have seasons because the Earth is tilted as it makes its yearly journey around the Sun.

Seasons

1.The tilt of the Earth's axis is the most important reason why seasons occur. 2.We have hot summers and cold winters because of the tilt of the Earth's axis.

Interaction—Earth and the Sun

As you said, because of the tilt the Earth will lean towards the Sun (Summer) or lean away from the Sun (Winter) 6 months later. In between these, Spring and Autumn will occur. I still don’t get it. Could you explain it more?

Let’s look at this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kITfNkNxYOM&feature=related

You may be much clearer about it.

Click the laptop!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kITfNkNxYOM&feature=related




Interaction—Earth and the Moon


How does the Moon orbit Earth? Try this website and

let’s watch it together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO1Yqd8Y2io&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO1Yqd8Y2io&feature=related

Click the laptop!





http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonphase/

Animation of the Moon’s PhasesThe Moon also rotates and revolves. The half of the Moon that faces the Sun is always lighted. As the Moon revolves around Earth, different amount of its lighted and dark sides face Earth. The Moon’s phase depends on the part of the lighted half we can see.

Wow. Look at that! Amazing!

http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112188/moon_phases.htm

The Moon’s PhasesPhases are the different shapes the Moon seems to have in the sky.It takes about 29 days for the Moon to pass through all of its phases. Then the phases repeat. The four main phases of the Moon are new Moon, first quarter, full Moon and last quarter.

http://www.astronomytoday.com/astronomy/earthmoon.html

Here are some other websites you can visit on the planets and our Solar System:

• The Universe - Level 1 & The Universe - Level 2 • Planet Impact!• Views of the Solar System• Our Solar System: The Planets and Their Motion• Astronomy for Kids • Field Guide to the Universe • Welcome to the Planets

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/universe_level1/universe.html

Now, you should be familiar with:

1.Science vocabulary

2.Structure of the solar system

3.The Sun, the Moon, and the inner planets

4.The outer planets

5.Relative size and relative distance (AU)

6.The planet movement—rotation and revolution

7.Interaction between Earth and the Sun—Seasons, day and night

8.Interaction between Earth and the Moon—The Moon’s phases

Thank you for the viewing!

~ The End ~

Documents

Multimedia Material on the Solar System By Dr. Chien-Hung Lin ( 林 建 宏 博士 )

Multimedia Material on the Solar System By Dr. Chien-Hung Lin ( 林建宏博士 )